New 'Daily Show' host Trevor Noah explains why Monday's show will be like going on a first date

Trevor Noah will fill Jon Stewart's former role as host of
"The
Daily Show" starting Sept. 28, a job he landed after
just a brief stint as a "Daily Show" correspondent.

The 31-year-old South African comedian has been honing his stage
presence since he was 18. Now that he's part of an experienced
team of Comedy Central writers and producers, he's refining
his creative process.

At a panel at "The Daily Show" studios on Friday, we asked Noah
how he's transitioned from developing material for a stand-up
career to becoming the host of an acclaimed show with an
Emmy-winning team of creative people.

He said the journey has been like dating someone new,
and the main task has been keeping honesty at the
forefront.

"Performing stand up, you have no tools at your disposal, no
production tools," Noah said. "So what you're trying to do is
create a world only using your words. And so what's been fun here
is learning how many tools we have at our disposal. There are
screens, there are videos, there are things that can help you
create that picture...

"And so what's been really fun is learning to incorporate that
into what I've been doing and then finding ways to authentically
bring Trevor into the show."

He said he and his team have been focusing on how to develop him
as the host without compromising either the tradition of the show
or his authentic self. "My stand up is honestly the most natural
version of who I am," Noah explained. "I don't
play a character on stage. I try to get to the most honest place.
And so I'm trying to get to that place on the show."

It's a matter of practice. "That just comes with doing it
repetitively," he said. "You find your rhythm, you find your
beat. You start to learn the audience, you start to learn each
other. It's like any relationship, you know? Your first date, you
go, Does this work? And then, Yeah, let's do
this again. And again, and again, and again. And then you
slowly slide into a rhythm. And then you hate one another — the
other person is there all the time, throwing towels on the
bathroom floor and squeezing the toothpaste."

Noah is now in a position where he's learning to appreciate the
similarities and differences of the worlds of stand up and cable
television, as well as the worlds of being a one-man show and
being one member of a large team. "It's a beautiful journey that
we'll be on together," he said. "It's about meshing those two
worlds and finding the right balance."